Spain hosts until this weekend the two sides of the same coin. On the one hand, in Barcelona, the summit of progressive movements of the world (left) is taking place, attended, in addition to the host Pedro Sanchez, by Latin American leaders such as Gustavo Petro (Colombia), Claudia Sheinbaum (Mexico) and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Brazil); and, on the other hand, in Madrid, the Spanish capital handed over the keys of the city to the Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize Maria Corina Machado.
Around Machado gathered important figures of the right such as Alberto Nunez Feijoo, president of the Popular Party, and Isabel Diaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid. Both sides, in their public appearances, defended their perspective of the ideas of democracy and freedom. Although it has been highlighted that the summit of progressives brings together the democratic left, many sectors recall the silence kept by Sanchez, Petro, Sheinbaum and Lula da Silva regarding the calamitous situation of Venezuela under the regime of Nicolas Maduro, and the way they look the other way when it comes to Cuba and Nicaragua.
Similarities between Pedro Sanchez and Gustavo Petro
There were also those who, upon seeing Petro and Sanchez together, found curious similarities such as the fact that they look with disdain at the separation of powers that characterizes liberal democracies and insult their opponents, and even have relatives charged by justice and on the verge of prison for acts of corruption. In the case of Sanchez, his brother David is prosecuted for prevarication and influence peddling, and his wife, Begona Gomez, for embezzlement, corruption in business, misappropriation of funds and influence peddling.
In the case of Petro, his son Nicolas faces a voluminous list of charges, several of which are related to the alleged illegal financing of his father’s presidential campaign: first he was charged with the crimes of influence peddling, undue interest in the awarding of contracts and falsification of a public document. Then, in another process he faces for conduct in which he would have incurred as a deputy of Atlantico, he was charged with six other counts: undue interest in the awarding of contracts, influence peddling, embezzlement by appropriation, false testimony, falsification of a public document and falsification of a private document.
But the leaders of Spain and Colombia also have in common the fact that several of their officials face problems with justice. The former Spanish Minister of Transport Jose Luis Abalos had to leave the government when he was investigated in a case of alleged corruption and diversion of funds together with a former adviser of his, Koldo Garcia. Another figure of the Spanish government with troubles, who became number three of the powerful PSOE, is Santos Cerdan, investigated for alleged bribes during the pandemic and possible irregular awarding of other public contracts. He was expelled from the socialist party and had to resign his seat as a deputy.
In Colombia, high officials of Petro, such as his former comrade in the M-19 guerrilla Carlos Ramon Gonzalez, today a fugitive in Nicaragua, and former Interior Minister Luis Fernando Velasco and former Finance Minister Ricardo Bonilla, as well as his former adviser for the regions Sandra Ortiz, are under investigation and two of them remain in prison (Velasco and Ortiz) for the biggest corruption scandal of this Government, that of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD).
An exiled Venezuela demands its rights
In contrast, the right gathered in Madrid around Maria Corina Machado does not face that type of accusations. Rather, it demands her return and that of democracy to Venezuela. Despite the fact that the opposition led by the also Nobel Peace Prize winner already won an election in July 2024 that gave victory to Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, they demand a new electoral process now that Maduro is no longer there. They demand from interim president Delcy Rodriguez that in the new elections the eight million Venezuelans who had to leave their country due to persecution or due to the difficult living conditions derived from the political and economic crisis be able to participate.
This Saturday, the emblematic Puerta del Sol in Madrid filled with Venezuelan tricolor flags held by citizens of that country who responded to the call of Maria Corina Machado, pursuing a single objective: freedom and democracy in their country. It is another demonstration that outside the borders of Venezuela there is another Venezuela that demands its rights, and sends a message to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to push for a democratic transition and not accommodate so much with Delcy Rodriguez, who is part of the regime.
The progressivism gathered in Barcelona prefers not to refer to what is happening in Madrid. Both sides send messages to the world hoping to have an echo in democratic consciences. The left and the right continue to dispute the sympathy of citizens in order to access power. The facts, reality, are the acid test that allows people to make sound decisions.